Capri's Fate (14 page)

Capri
tapped on the doorframe. "Everything is stored away. I locked our luggage in the bathroom."

Thall shifted to look at her. "Excellent. Go strap yourself in. We should be off in a few minutes. We're number one on takeoff."

Clicking the engines one by one, he listened for the whine signaling they had spun up. He glanced out the window. The runway was clear. Capri had done a great job at that.

He clicked on the intercom. "This is your Captain speaking. We're ready for takeoff. Please insure your seat backs and trays are in the upright position. And your seatbelt is secure. Thank you for flying T. Hall Charterways."

He released the brakes and put his hand on the throttle. Slowly he pressed it forward.

The door behind him swung open. "Stop!"

Chapter Thirteen

Capri
's heart raced as she pushed forward into the cockpit. "Stop. You'll run over Dion." She cringed, waiting for the sickening thump of the plane's tire meeting Komodo dragon.

Thall glanced back then refocused on the runway. "He's fine. He moved out from under the plane a while ago. Geesh, you think I'd run over our pet dragon."

She released her held breath, opened her eyes and stared at her pilot. "Where did he go?"

"How should I know?" Thall hunched his shoulders. "He probably went to get lunch or maybe find a girl dragon and get a little afternoon bowchickawowwow. Now get out of here, I have a plane to fly."

"Sorry. Sorry." She backed out of the cockpit and closed the door. Returning to her seat, she clicked her seatbelt shut.
Again, I go up in a plane. Why can't I go places where I can drive? Okay, focus on something else. Plane is moving. Is there enough runway? Uh, not so good on focusing on something else.

She tapped the tip of her fingernail on the metal seatbelt buckle then glanced down at her chipped and damaged manicure.
Seventy-five dollar manicure shot all to hell. Wonder if the hotel has a spa? I could so use a mani-pedi and a massage
. A wave of heat flowed through her as memories of the massage on the beach flitted through her mind. Her pulse increased as she thought about the way the hands rubbed her back, her legs, and—

The shuddering of the plane snapped
Capri away from her massage memories and back into the seat of the aircraft. She glanced out the window. The ground was falling away
. Forget about that massage. He wasn't real. It wasn't real.

Her clit tweeted a message:
It felt real to me.


No, focus on something else. Think about the pilot.
A small grin danced across her lips.
He's a hottie. It was heaven being snuggled up next to him. He smells like…like…oh, gee, I dunno. He smells like something that makes me feel secure
. Capri chuckled.
Oh, now that's sexy.

She rubbed between her eyes.
Secure. Why did I choose that word? Because I feel comfortable around him. Like I've known him for years and I could lose myself in his love and know I'd be safe. He wouldn't cheat on me. He'd love me until the end of time. Hmph, here I've got us united until eternity and he's just being polite because I'm a client.

Capri
watched as clouds floated past the window.
Maybe not. He might like me. He held me when I was scared.
She shook her head.
Why would he like me? He doesn't even know me.

Snorting, she mentally slapped her wrist.
I sound like a twelve-year-old. Anybody have a daisy?
Capri made the motion of plucking petals.
He likes me. He likes me not. Well since I am an adult let's forget the schoolgirl games and get to know him better.

She slapped the arm of her chair, stood and strode to the cockpit door.
Why does he have to be a pilot? In a plane. That flies in the sky.
Her stomach rumbled and her hands grew clammy.
Don't think about flying. You're in a car. On a highway. Going really, really fast.
She raised her hand and tapped on the door.

"It's not locked."

She pushed it open and stuck her head inside. "Can I come in? The planes up and flying along?"

Thall glanced up from the control panel and pointed to the seat next to him. "Yup. What's up?"

To avoid looking out front windows, Capri kept her eyes lowered as she shuffled past the center console and settled onto the co-pilot's seat. "Tight squeeze. Nothing's up. It just got lonely back there." She heaved a sigh. The knot in the middle of her upper back released, and a little of the tension eased. "I have to confess, I'm not very good at flying. Planes sort of scare me."

"You flew from the
U.S. or did you swim?" He settled back in his seat.

"I was going to
walk, but that little ocean posed a bit of a problem." She lifted her head and peered out the front window. "Oh, wow. What a view."

Not a cloud marred the sky, and before her
laid the vastness of the ocean. "It's like we're the only ones up here. Sort of peaceful."

"Well
, it is now that the storm has blown itself out."

Capri
smiled. "I feel strangely relaxed and safe up here. Much more so, than back in the cabin."

Thall tossed off a playful salute. "Well, there's nothing to be worried about, little lady, Captain T. Hall's flying this here big bird."

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "So, Captain T. Hall, give me a tour of your big bird. What kind of plane is this?"

"Learjet 45. With a maximum speed of 561 mph or Mach 0.82 at an altitude of 24,000 feet."

"Should I be saying
ooh
and
aah
?"

He looked at her and raised one eyebrow. "If you expect to get the full tour, you'd better show more enthusiasm than that."

She threw a salute back at him. "Duly noted. What's that?" She pointed to one of the instruments on the main flight console.

"Technical term or layman?"

"Layman." She squirmed feeling her excitement grow.
And I'm thinking I want to lay this man.

"T
his tells us if we're right side up."

"Right side up?"
Capri gulped as a chill shot through her.

"A plane is sort of like a fish. Belly up can be bad."

She squeezed her eyes closed and calmed the nausea rolling in her stomach. "Not feeling so safe anymore." She opened one eye and peered at the plane's attitude indicator.

Thall chuckled
. "It's on autopilot. We're good and level. Would you like to see unlevel?"

"God, no!"
Capri's eyelids flew open, and her eyebrows rose to their peak. "Boringly level works perfectly fine for me."

He chuckled. "You've got to have a bit of excitement
and danger in your life."

Capri
scrunched her lips and shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Have
n't you ever done anything that scared the crap out of you? Taken a big risk?"

"No." The heat rose in her cheeks. "I was too busy going to school, getting my degrees and getting a job."

"Well, buckle up." He pointed to her seatbelt.

"Why?" Her
pitch and eyebrows rose.

"You're gonna fly this baby." He smiled and pointed at her seatbelt. "Come on, do it up. You've got to do something fun and dangerous for once."

Capri snapped her face toward Thall. "What did you say?"

"You have
to do something fun and dangerous."

She fumbled reaching for her seatbelt. Why did that sound so familiar? It was like she'd heard him say that before.
Something fun. Something dangerous
.

"Ready?" He rested his hand near a switch.

She blinked. "No. Give me a moment."

"Like I said, it isn't hard. These things pretty much fly themselves. Just keep it level, and don't try and fly it like a video game."

Gripping the control stick in front of her, Capri took a deep breath. "I just keep this level?"

"Yup, like driving a car." He flicked the autopilot switch to off. "There, she's all yours."

Capri's heart rate jumped. "Really?" She tightened her grip.

"Yes, you're flying the plane."

"Oh, my God, what do I do?" She glanced at him.

He leaned back and laughed. "Keep doing what you're doing. Now glance out the window. See anything?"

"I see the ocean."

"Try and stay above that. I meant, do you see anything like another plane, a mountain, a UFO?"

She glanced sideways at him. "No UFOs. E.T. has long since gone home."

"Well,
if there's nothing around, just keep flying straight ahead."

Capri
's gaze flitted between the level indicator and the view out the window. "Am I really flying this thing?"

He nodded and pointed to Autopilot. "It's off."

She glanced out the window. "Oh, look. Land." She released her right hand and pointed, then grasped the control.

Thall adjusted his headphones and mic and spoke to Indonesian Air Traffic control. He grinned. "You want to land this?"

"Uh, hell no!"

"Remember, you have to do something fun and dangerous."

This time the sentence hit Capri right in her clit. The tingle spread through her body and trailed to her nipples.
He sounds like…
She shook her head.
Don't be stupid. This guy's human.

Capri
gasped when she felt the control stick shift. She glanced at it then the pilot.

As he spoke, he focused on the instrument panel
, "I'll line you up with the runway, and you can put her down. I'll help."

The joystick moved within her grasp and the horizon tilted. Her stomach did a backflip. "Oh, this isn't good." Her hand flew to her mouth.
Thall leveled the plane.

"I can't do this." She reached for her seatbelt. "I have to get out—"

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Stay. I'll help. You can do this. I know you can. Fuck your fear. Let's land this together."

Capri
leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. She exhaled and inhaled four large breaths. When she opened her eyes, the plane was lined up with the runway. She grimaced. It didn't look wide enough to land the plane on. "Aren't we too high?"

The control stick moved and the ground rose.
Capri blinked. "I didn't mean we had to, you know, dive down."

He chuckled. "Watch our altitude here, and head her toward the runway. If you get too steep or something, I'll correct it."

Her knuckles turned white from the force of her grip on the controls. Her heart pounded in her chest. A trickle of sweat slithered down her right cheek. She wanted to wipe it away, but she refused to release the controls. She had a gut feeling her grip on the controls kept the plane in the air.

As the distance to ground narrowed, the runaway appeared to widen. Streaks of rubber from thousands of previous landings painted the tarmac a deep black.

She glanced at Thall, who sat upright, hands on controls, but seemed calm as he communicated with the tower
. I can do this. Fuck my fear.

Her heartbeat roared into overdrive as the plane passed over the outer lights and appeared to hover above the runway. She felt a small shift in the joystick and bounced as the plane's tires hit the runway. "I did it! We're down."

With a roar of reverse thrust, Thall slowed the plane and directed her to a hangar on the far side of the runway. Trembling, she waited until he eased the plane to a full stop and killed the engines. He turned and smiled. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"That has got to be the most amazing thing I have ever done." She unlatched her seatbelt, scrambled over the center console, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. Adrenalin and lust flowed through her veins. She fought the urge to rip his shirt off and mount him in his cockpit. Instead, she pulled back and plopped back onto her seat and focused her gaze out the window.

The sign read Maingapu International Airport. She tilted her head back and rested it on the seat.

"You flew to the wrong airport." Her brow crinkled and darkened. "We're supposed to be at
Flores." She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Now, I'm never going to make that meeting."

Thal
l unclicked his seatbelt. "Had to land here. Flores' runway is shut down. Fuel spill on the runway. This was the closest island that we had enough fuel to get to."

She sighed. "But how am I supposed to get to
Flores?"

"We'll take a boat." He shuffled out of his seat.

Capri dropped her chin to her chest. "Did I ever mention I hate boats more that planes?"